The Essentials to
Setting SMART Goals

When you strive to change, set SMART goals to increase your chance of success. It's an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-boxed. Here they are in detail.

SPECIFIC

This means to set goals that are clear, crystal clear. This is where you ask "what the goal is" and "how you will achieve it?". When you set goals that are too general you can't hold yourself accountable for the results you achieve. Vague goals produce vague results.

For instance, if your goal is to get stronger, it's not very clear. However, if your goal is to gain 10 lbs of muscle and maintain a 9 percent body fat, then it's far more specific. It's that kind of thinking that will generate solid results.

MEASURABLE

This means you set a goal that you can track and actually complete. This goes hand in hand with being specific. Be sure to establish criteria to measure how far you gone. A rule of thumb is to set goals that are numeric or a simple yes/no. That gives you a bulls eye to actually shoot for.

ACHIEVABLE

This does NOT mean you should set only easy goals. The goals that stretch you a little bit (or a lot) are the ones you should be working on. Keep in mind there is a difference between difficult and impossible. For instance if you decide you want to lose 20lbs in 5 days in a healthy manner, it's not a realistic assessment. On the other hand if you were to lose 20 lbs in 2-3 months, that would be an aggressive but possible goal to achieve.

Also, you will notice you may uncover resources that were not previously aware of. For example you want to lose weight. If it's something you're excited about, you will talk about this with other people and find that other people share the same goal. As a result you now have a workout buddy to help you.

RELEVANT

There are two meanings that goals should be relevant:

The first is that Smart goals are ones that are meaningful to you personally. They are goals that you get excited about, not somebody else's.

Secondly, when breaking down tasks, it's useful to be aware of the Pareto principle (aka the 80/20 rule). This means 20% of the tasks will give you 80% of the results. Especially when starting out a new goal, focus on those tasks that will generate the highest impact.

TIME-BOXED

If you don't set deadlines on your goals then they are only dreams. In this case, apply Parkinson's law. This law states that a task (or goal) will expand to fill the available time for completion.

So, if you are given 48 hours to complete a project, the time forces you to focus on getting it done. On the other hand if you are given 3 months, it will take 3 months to complete. So, try to use time to your advantage for your important goals.

According to Zig Ziglar (legendary speaker and author in the U.S.), the 1953 Yale graduating class performed a study on goals. They found 3% of the students set SMART goals and the rest of the 97% did not. The surprising result according to the study was that 3% of those students who set smart goals accumulated more wealth than the other 97% combined. So, if your goal does not fit within all of the SMART criteria, modify it until it does or drop the goal. Your chances of reaching that goal is far more likely if you set them the in way that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-boxed.

So, get out there and have fun setting some SMART goals!

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